During the recent visit of Polish President Andrzej Duda to Ukraine, information emerged that Poland had secretly transferred several Mi-24 attack helicopters to Ukraine. We are talking about at least ten vehicles. This is reported by Militarnyi with reference to The Wall Street Journal.
Previously, a video of Polish trucks transporting attack helicopters had already circulated on the Internet.
The ground forces of Poland are armed with about 30 Mi-24 helicopters in the Mi-24B and Mi-24D variants. But as part of rearmament, Poland plans to replace them with more modern Boeing AH-64E Apaches. The military has leased 8 such vehicles for training, and plans to place an order for 96 (!) attack helicopters of this type in the USA. In addition, Poland ordered 32 AgustaWestland AW149 fire support helicopters from the Italian military concern Leonardo.
As for the Mi-24B and Mi-24D, they are one of the most massive Soviet attack helicopters, which during the Cold War were part of the so-called Soviet Big 7, the most important and powerful conventional weapons of the USSR.
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, there were about 35 Mi-24 helicopters armed with the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Back in May 2022, the Czech Republic transferred to Ukraine all its Mi-24D – 7 vehicles.
Thank you, Czech Republic! Thank you Poland!
Mi-24 helicopter specifications
Maximum take-off weight – 12,500 kg
Empty weight – 8,400 kg
Payload – 2,400 kg
Length including rotors – 19.8 m
Length (fuselage only) – 17.5 m
Height – 6.5 m
Main rotor diameter – 17.3 m
Tail rotor diameter – 3.9 m
Maximum speed – 310 km/hour
Cruising speed – 260 km/h
Maximum flight range – 750 km
Tactical range – 160 km
Ceiling – 4,500 meters
Climb rate near the surface – 750 m/minute
Crew – 2 people
Capacity – 8 people
Armament – 12.7-mm four-barreled machine gun, anti-tank missile system, aircraft unguided missile
Fuel consumption – 800 l/hour